Nails

I recently participated in the All Lacquered Up nail polish swap. Earlier this week I got a bunch of goodies from Kathyrn, including the five nail polishes, base coat and two containers of nail confetti (I lack a better word for what these little things are called) pictured below. I also got some really pretty aqua-blue bracelets.

I was totally in love with the Rimmel London polish and the No7 “Totally Teal,” and I couldn’t decide which one to try first. I decided that I needed to use them both, especially since they matched the lovely bracelets I got (see below), so I decided to use three different polishes in the same family. I used Wet N Wild “I Need a Refresh-Mint” on my thumbs and index fingers, the Rimmel London polish on my middle fingers and No7 “Totally Teal” on my ring and pinky fingers. I absolutely love the look and I’ve gotten a few compliments on my nails already. Thanks Kathryn for the wonderful polishes, and thanks to Angela and Meghan for hosting this swap!

I got a bunch of new nail polishes at Rite Aid this week because Rite Aid is having a BOGO 50% sale on Wet n Wild, plus 3 +UP rewards when you buy $8 worth of Wet n Wild. Not to mention there was a $1 off coupon in the Sunday paper. So I got eight new Wet n Wild polishes, and a NYC polish because it was really pretty.

I feel like I always get a new color before I can try the last one I bought. I had another NYC color from my last polish shopping trip that was next in line for my nails, but I just had to try something from the newest additions to my collection. I love all the polishes I just got (okay, maybe I’m a little leery of the sparkly orange polish, but I still intend to use it one day), so it was hard to decide which one to try first. For some reason Bite The Bullet, a mauve purple color, really called to me and I decided to do my nails with that. I actually thought about giving this color to a friend because she loves Mauve, but I was selfish and decided to keep it for myself.

I have to say I love this color! It’s a nice transition from the bright colors of summer into the darker colors of fall without taking a huge leap. I also just got a beautiful dress from Forever 21 that will go perfect with this nail color. And I just love the name Bite The Bullet. I feel like I am going to be doing a lot of that in my classes this week.

So I found this yellow Anise nail polish (there wasn’t a name for the color on the bottle) when I went home for the labor day weekend and I wanted to try it because it looked really pretty and it reminded me of the Savannah Sunshine polish I posted a few weeks ago. I also just got Nabi Crackle in Charcoal from No More Rack, a site that I love, and I wanted to try that, so I decided to pair them together.

two coats of polish

I guess it’s fortunate that I was so eager to try the crackle because the Anise polish didn’t go on very smoothly, and it kind of looked like a mess just by it self. But once I put the crackle on it ended up looking really cool. Yellow was the perfect color to go under the silvery black of the charcoal crackle. The crackle does go on kind of thick and it needs to go on pretty light to get the full crackle effect, so that was something I had to get a hang of, but overall I really love the effect.

I went to Rite Aid yesterday because they had a deal where if you bought 3 nail polishes (excluding wet and wild and some other brands) then you would get $3 +UP Rewards. I wanted to get some of the $.99 NYC nail color, but they were all sold out. The shelf was bare except for a black color, which I didn’t need. So I ended up buying some of the more expensive ($1.99) NYC because I figured I was already there and $3 to spend later was still $3 to spend later, and therefore still a good deal. Well I ended up getting a really pretty dark plum color, a gray color called “Sidewalkers” and a Matte finish top coat.
I couldn’t decide between painting my nails the gray or plum color. I had originally been planing to use a brownish purple nail polish I already had (I am in love with the dark brown/dark purple colors right now), but I wanted to try something new (specifically my new nail polish), so I ended up going with “Sidewalkers.” Honestly, I was kind of feeling a little gray yesterday after I realized how stressful this semester is going to be for me, so it seems fitting. I put on two coats (one would have been enough) of “Sidewalkers” and let them dry before topping it with “Matte Me Crazy.” I’ve never used a Matte finish top coat before, but I love how it worked with the polish. My nails look like just laid concrete. It’s definitely fun and something new.

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The last time I saw Leah, it was an overcast day in summer. That summer seemed more like winter than anything, cool temperatures and lots of rain. As I closed my umbrella and boarded a local bus, I heard a familiar voice say “Hey” with a slight smirk. I knew it was Leah before I saw her sitting alone at the front of the bus. I was slightly embarrassed because she hadn’t changed a bit, same mischievous smile, same shoulder length braids, same slight figure, while I had given up our once shared goal of supermodel like beauty and looked homelier than ever, soaking wet in a sweatshirt and baggy jeans. She didn’t seem to care though. She was happy to see me and talking a mile-a-minute.

-Did you ever go back to H. Hospital?

Yeah, I went back once. About a year ago. What about you?

-I just got out of J.G. Pavilion. My sister had me locked up because she said I was having a bipolar episode. Bitch. It’s horrible in there. Nothing like H. Those were the good times. *Laugh* Being young and crazy and locked up in H. Do you remember Amy? Do you still talk to her?

No. But I’m friends with Ashley on facebook.

-Oh, how’s she doing?

She’s good. She’s going to school at USC.

-And what about you?

I’m headed to New York to go to graduate school at the end of August.

-Wow. You’re so lucky you went to college. I wish I had gone.

You still can, you know.

-Nah. Too late for me. But that’s okay. So where are you headed?

Just home. How about you?

-I’m going to meet a guy for a lunch date?

Your boyfriend?

-*Laughs* Not exactly *wink*

We exchanged numbers before Leah got off at the next bus stop. I had a sneaking suspicion in my gut that she was prostituting and her “lunch date” was more like a mid-afternoon out-call. And I didn’t want her to go, but I watched her wave as she stepped off the bus.

When I think of Leah, it brings a smile to my face. She had a great energy, bright and carefree with a mischievousness about it. And we had some good times together, despite being troubled teenagers locked up in H. So when I saw Julep’s nail polish color called “Leah,” it peaked me interest. At first, I wasn’t a huge fan of the color, but the more I looked at, the more it reminded me of Leah, bright, daring, lough, and I knew I had to get it.

I did a mani using Julep’s “Leah” today because I wanted to channel some outgoingness. But in typical fashion, I manged to mess up a couple of nails before they completely dried, so I covered up the imperfections with Julep’s Mila, a glitter polish. And I have to say this reminds me of my friend Leah even more because she tried to cover up all her imperfections with a little glitter and charm. I call this my “All That Glitters” mani. Hopefully it helps me start the school year off good.